About five minutes into the film, Dorothy sings the song after
failing to get her aunt and uncle to listen to her relate an unpleasant
incident involving her dog, Toto, and the town spinster, Miss Gulch. Dorothy's Aunt Em
tells her to "find yourself a place where you won't get into any
trouble". This prompts Dorothy to walk off by herself, musing to Toto,
"'Some place where there isn't any trouble.' Do you suppose there is
such a place, Toto? There must be. It's not a place you can get to by a
boat, or a train. It's far, far away. Behind the moon, beyond the
rain...", at which point she begins singing.

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Somewhere over the rainbow (Cover Version of Israel Kamakawiwo'ol)

Published on December 14, 2012Ref: 20121214-00017-Israel Kamakawiwo'ole 2012 12 12 091636 Whatr a wonderful world

In April 2016, The Daily Telegraph listed the song as number 8 on its list of the 100 greatest songs of all time.[4]

On October 7, 1938, Judy Garland first recorded the song on the MGM soundstages, using an arrangement by Murray Cutter.In September 1939, a studio recording of the song, not from the actual film soundtrack, was recorded and released as a single by Decca Records.In March 1940, that same recording was included on a Decca 78-RPM four-record studio cast album entitled The Wizard of Oz.
Although this is not the version of the song featured in the film,
Decca would continue to re-release the so-called "Cast Album" well into
the 1960s after it was re-issued as a single-record 331⁄3 RPM LP.

Following the film's release in 1939, "Over the Rainbow" became Garland's signature song
and she would perform it for the next thirty years, until her death in
1969. Garland performed the song without altering it, singing exactly as
she did for the movie. She explained her fidelity by saying that she
was staying true to the character of Dorothy and to the message of
really being somewhere over the rainbow.[9]Israel Kamakawiwo'ole versionIsrael Kamakawiwoʻole's album Facing Future, released in 1993, included a ukulelemedley of "Over the Rainbow" and Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World". The song reached #12 on Billboard's Hot Digital Tracks chart the week of January 31, 2004 (for the survey week ending January 18, 2004).[19]
In the UK, the song was released as a single under the title "Somewhere
over the Rainbow". It entered the UK Official Singles Chart in April
2007 at #68. After several returns to the chart, in September 2008 it
reached its peak position so far going up to #46.[citation needed] In Germany, the single also returned to the German Singles Chart in September 2010. After only 2 weeks on that chart, the song had already received gold status for having sold 150,000 copies.[20]
In October 2010, the song reached No. 1 in the German charts and 2011
it has been certified 5x Gold for selling more than 750,000 copies.[20] It stayed 12 non-consecutive weeks at the top spot and was the most successful single in Germany in 2010.[21] As of March 2012, it's the 2nd best-selling download ever in Germany with digital sales between 500,000 and 600,000.[22][23] In France, the song debuted at #4 in December 2010 and reached number one.[24] In the USA, the song was certified Platinum for 1,000,000 downloads sold.[25] To date the song has sold over 4.2 million digital copies as of October 2014.[26] In Switzerland, the song received Platinum, too, for 30,000 copies sold.[27]

This version of the song was recorded in 1988, in Honolulu in just
one take. Israel called the recording studio at 3am. He was given 15
minutes to arrive by Milan Bertosa. Bertosa is quoted to say ″And in
walks the largest human being I had seen in my life. Israel was probably
like 500 pounds. And the first thing at hand is to find something for
him to sit on." The building security found Israel a big steel chair.
"Then I put up some microphones, do a quick sound check, roll tape, and
the first thing he does is 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow.' He played and
sang, one take, and it was over." [35]